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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24956974">Pavane, Minuet, Gavotte</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/toomanyfandoms24/pseuds/toomanyfandoms24'>toomanyfandoms24</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Vampire Chronicles - All Media Types, Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Claudia is alive, Claudia is written as a child, Dadstat, Gabrielle is a BAMF, I don't know it fluently, I haven't read past the first two books, Lestat and Louis love each other, Lestat has to deal with trauma, Lestat tries to be a good dad, M/M, POV Third Person Omniscient, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The french is bad, Viktor is written as an oc, Warnings May Change, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:49:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24956974</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/toomanyfandoms24/pseuds/toomanyfandoms24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lestat has suddenly revealed a bit of his past that he longed not to announce to his new family. Now that Louis and Claudia have heard of this, they long to travel to discover not only more of their kind, but members of their new vampiric family as well. However, they do always say that curiosity killed the cat...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lestat de Lioncourt/Louis de Pointe du Lac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Translation:<br/>Mon choupette = a french term of endearment meaning "my cabbage"; used towards children; female only</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A gentle quiet enveloped Rue Royale. Claudia watched as rain trickled down the large windows in the living room. Her sighs of boredom weren’t even registering in her fathers’ ears. Louis was wrapped up in a book with an obscure French title and Lestat was wrapped up with the very taxing activity of staring at Louis. Claudia rolled her eyes every time she looked back to see if her fathers heard her.</p><p>	She gradually inched closer and closer to the couch her dads were sitting on, sighing louder and louder with each movement. Her back almost hit the ornate furniture when Lestat registered her presence.</p><p>	“What wrong, mon choupette?” Lestat patted Claudia’s doll-like curls. </p><p>	“I’m bored!” Claudia whined. She glanced towards Louis, who was completely unaware of the situation. </p><p>	“How can you be bored? We have so much to do in this house.”</p><p>	“Wrong! There is nothing to do and I can’t even play outside!”</p><p>	“Well why don’t you play with your dolls or something?”</p><p>	“It’s gets boring by myself.” Claudia and Lestat jumped at the sound of a book being closed shut. Louis huffed an annoyed sigh and looked at the blondes.</p><p>	“Claudia, I am beginning to believe that you take after Lestat just a little too much. If playing by yourself is too boring then why don’t you and Lestat play with your dolls upstairs together?” Louis pinched the bridge of his nose and gestured towards the stairs, still clutching the book in his hand.</p><p>	“I can see why you love Louis so much. He always comes up with the bestest of ideas.” Claudia smiled as she grabbed Lestat’s hand and dragged him to her bedroom upstairs. Lestat glanced back at Louis and Louis blew him a kiss in response. </p><p>---<br/>
As soon as Claudia ran through the door of her large pink and white bedroom, she went to work setting up her dollhouse and rummaging through her assortment of dolls. Lestat had to suppress his laughter. Claudia propped up several of her dolls around a small table covered with a small pink square of cloth and a tiny tea set. She held out a doll clothed in a blue gown to Lestat. He took it and knelt down next to his daughter.<br/>
---</p><p>Louis shut his book gently and placed it on the wooden end table. He wanted to finish it, but it would have to wait another night. He couldn’t stop hearing the sounds of laughter and Lestat attempting to sound more feminine. The stairs creaked as Louis walked up them. He didn’t want to disturb the scene. Only watch it as an outsider. </p><p>Lestat was singing an old French song while controlling the doll to play the tiny piano at the bottom of the doll house. Louis did always find it odd how the dollhouse looked so much like Pointe du Lac. Claudia was trying to sing along but she didn’t know all of the words and resorted to humming instead. Lestat finished with a flourish and Claudia applauded wildly. Then, she stopped abruptly.</p><p>“Papa?” Claudia looked to Lestat as though she were looking through them.</p><p>“Yes, mon chou?” Lestat gently petted Claudia’s curls.</p><p>“When will I get a new piano teacher?”</p><p>“I am not sure that is a good idea,” Lestat placed his hands in his lap and stared at Claudia. “Considering you ate your last one.”</p><p>“Oh right. Sorry,” Claudia looked to the dollhouse and then exclaimed, “What if you can be my teacher?”</p><p>“What a fantastic idea! I only know of one other person in the world who can play piano better than me.”</p><p>“Who?”</p><p>“Well my son, of course.”</p><p>Louis gasped when he heard this. </p><p>Lestat had a son? Surely not.</p><p>“Louis?” Claudia peeped. Louis’s gasp must’ve been a bit too audible.</p><p>“L-Lestat? Is what you say true?” Louis was too confused to even respond to Claudia.</p><p>“How about we save this for tomorrow. It is quite a long story.” Lestat sighed.</p><p>“No. You are-” Louis was stopped by Lestat.</p><p>“Going to bed. Claudia get your nightgown on. Louis will read you a story and tuck you in. We will discuss this tomorrow after dinner.” Lestat walked out the door and left Louis with too many questions that needed to be answered.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lestat woke with a dull ache in his stomach. If he was human, he would’ve been sweating and his heart would be racing. He reached to his side to try and grab Louis, but all his hand touched was empty air. Memories of the night before came rushing into his mind.</p><p>---<br/>
Once Louis had tucked Claudia into her coffin, he stormed into the bedroom with the aggression of a rolling thunder. Louis was blending questions with insults and wounded Lestat with every word he spoke. Lestat didn’t like getting a taste of his own medicine, but he was too tired to do anything but deflect the questions.<br/>

“Why have you never told me?” Louis stifled a yawn. Lestat tried to place his hand on his husband’s waist, but Louis swatted his arm away.<br/>

“Mon cher, I told you, not tonight. How about we go to bed.” Lestat held out his hand.<br/>

“No. I’m gonna sleep in my own coffin.” Louis walked out without even an acknowledgement of Lestat.<br/>
---<br/>
“I’m gonna have to apologize, aren’t I?” Lestat wiped his face with his hands. Both him and the coffin lid groaned as he got up. His stomach clenched violently. He felt like vomiting, but instead he got up and breathed deeply.<br/>

Lestat threw on an outfit and walked downstairs. He was hoping to find Louis, but there was no sign of him. Lestat walked into Claudia’s room to get her ready for the night, but she was gone too. He began to grow worried. His breathing became more and more audible.<br/>

Lestat raced through the many rooms of the Rue Royale. There wasn’t a book out of place nor any furniture moved around. But there had to be something? Lestat didn’t know if he was going crazy or if Louis had really taken Claudia and left. He began to sob, vanity be damned. His breathing began to quicken and his sobs became a suffocating shout.<br/>

“No…no, this can’t be…They…They couldn’t,” Lestat collapsed onto the living room floor. “I…Where are they? I…want, no need, them to be here! I…don’t want to be alone again! I don’t want to lose another family…”</p><p>---<br/>
Louis stumbled through the door, not used to the feeling of carrying Claudia while entering. He expected Lestat to run up to him and fawn over Claudia. But Louis was met with silence. Claudia huffed and tried to wriggle out of Louis’s arms. She hopped down and ran into the house.<br/>

“Papa? Where are you? Why aren’t you saying hello,” then Claudia stopped in her tracks. “Papa?!”<br/>

Louis’s breathing became short as he finally registered Claudia’s panicked cries. He rushed into the living room to see Lestat curled up on the floor and Claudia desperately trying to get his attention.<br/>

Is he dead? No. Not possible. Louis’s thoughts raced as he approached Lestat. His fears were somewhat soothed when Lestat finally looked up and acknowledged his family. Rivers of soft red were caked onto Lestat’s face, his lips were torn from biting his lip, his cheeks were so hollow it looked like he hadn’t fed in a week.<br/>

“I thought you left.” Lestat’s voice was scratchy like a wool sweater. Louis wrapped his arms around his husband.<br/>

“No. We just went hunting. You overslept, mon amour.” Louis ran a newly-warmed hand through Lestat’s sunny locks. </p><p>---<br/>
Claudia aimlessly played with her dolls in front of the fireplace. There was something still clawing at her thoughts. She tried to push it out of her mind.<br/>

Papa already had a bad day. I don’t want to make him cry again.<br/>

She almost couldn’t stand it. It was for the best for her to wait. She won’t forget to ask tomorrow.</p><p>---<br/>
Claudia woke up early. She could barely settle into bed the morning before. She just had to know. She snuck through the house, tiptoeing around the few streaks of dusk-light that came through the curtains. She knew Lestat was usually awake at this time. She however didn’t expect to see Louis awake also.<br/>

“I’m not sure we should tell Claudia.” Louis stared at his hands.<br/>

“No. She deserves to know. I can see that it is eating her up.” Lestat brushed his hair, almost avoiding looking at the door.<br/>

He knows I’m here?<br/>

“Well if the full story is as bad as you say it is then…” Louis wiped away the sleep from his eyes and walked over to Lestat.<br/>

“No. It wouldn’t be fair to her. She would find it out one way or another and we should tell her now.”<br/>

Claudia wanted to burst through the door and announce her presence. Then she realized, she may not be able to hear the full story if she does that. Her fathers were excellent at trying to hide things from her. So, she decided to watch through the tiny crack in the door.<br/>

“Lestat…I don’t want to scar her!” Louis grumbled as he leaned up against the bedpost. His hands ran over the few slashes in the red wood.<br/>

“It wouldn’t be…”<br/>

“You said specifically that the story wasn’t a nice one.”<br/>

“How about I tell it to you first and then we can decide.”<br/>

“Ah, somebody finally learned what the word ‘compromise’ means.” Louis smirked. Lestat turned around and huffed. He would’ve started pouting if it weren’t for the fact that it would lead to another argument between the two patriarchs of the house.<br/>

“Fine. Here goes nothing.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Well, all stories start with the beginning. I think the best place to start would be as to how your son came to be.” Louis rested a hand on his chin. Lestat got up and walked over to Louis, kissed him on the nose, and sat down to begin his tale.</p>
<p>	“I ran away from my home for a short time when I was a young man before I ever went to Paris. I joined an acting troupe and met a woman with beautiful red hair. The whole time is another story to tell. To make it short, I was romantically involved with this woman. I wouldn’t know that a child was the result of that affair for many years.</p>
<p>“I was sitting in my Paris flat, before I ever became a vampire, and heard this banging on the door. I thought it was my landlord and was prepared to tell him that I promise to get my rent as soon as I can afford it. To my surprise, my landlord was not there but a thin boy, no older than thirteen, with pencil-straight blonde hair and these striking blue eyes. He looked just like me and I was taken aback. My first thought was that he was one of my brother’s children here to take me home or to report that a relative has died. </p>
<p>“He introduced himself with a boy and announced his name was Viktor Lelio Romeo Alexander de Lioncourt. He stumbled saying the surname, I later learned that he didn’t know I was his father for most of his life. He asked for my name and I gave it to him, then he just waltzed into my flat like he owned it!</p>
<p>“I told him, ‘Excuse me, but what do you think you are doing?’. He looked as if I had just stabbed him. I still swear that I saw tears in his eyes. I really should’ve assumed he was my son from the dramatics alone. He explained to me that he was my son and his mother had just passed. I gave him my condolences and…turned him away. I’m not proud of it. I could’ve at least given him something, but I couldn’t take in a kid all of the sudden. I shoved him out the door while he was trying to convince me to let him stay. God, I was a monster to him, and yet he still came back. Every six months he would come to my house and try to convince me that I should take him in. The craziest thing was that for the first few times he came to my house, he seemed way better off than me.<br/>“After I was given the dark gift, I never saw him again. That was until my mother had arrived in Paris. I had seen him outside the hotel that my mother was dying in, but didn’t register that it was him until I had left with my mother.” Lestat recalled. </p>
<p>“Wait, wait, wait. You stole your mother’s corpse?!” Louis interrupted. Lestat shook his head.</p>
<p>“No. You misheard me my darling. I had turned my mother into a vampire. I wanted to save her from death, from dying in that stuffy hotel. I wanted to let her see me again and let her travel to her beloved Italy, even if it was at night. I thought that was what she wanted, but now I am not so sure,” Lestat sighed and a single tear fell from his eyes. Louis wrapped a strong arm around Lestat. Claudia was so entranced that she almost lost her balance. “My mother had always been on the outside. She always seemed uncomfortable. I thought she was just sad about her life and our poverty. Then after I had given her the Dark Gift, it looked like she was constantly uncomfortable in her skin. The only time I saw her smile was when she cut her hair and donned a man’s clothes. I still wish to see her again, but I don’t think she will be happy if she does see me again. I’m her one last and lingering reminder of her horrible life back in France.</p>
<p>“But I digress, you want to hear about my son not my mother.” Lestat shook his head as if the physical action would allow all thoughts of his mother to leave his mind.</p>
<p>“You talk about what you want to, my love. It’s your story, you should tell it how you want to.” Louis placed a gentle kiss onto Lestat’s pale face. Claudia wanted to hug her dads, but her brain decided against it.</p>
<p>“Well, I didn’t see my son again until after I turned Nicki. Have I ever told you about him?” </p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“Oh. Well, it’s another long story. I will tell you some other time. But again, I digress. When I saw my son again, I realized something was different. He looked more ethereal and healthier than the last time I saw him. Then I realized, he had been turned. </p>
<p>“Once he saw me, he immediately tried to start a conversation with me. For once, I actually paid attention to the boy, who now was almost a man. Four years had passed from the first time I met him but he still had such a childish wonder about him. I allowed him to stay with me and he joined the small coven of vampires that had formed around me. </p>
<p>“I don’t know who turned my son and among the 10 years that I traveled with my original party, he never spoke a word about his turning. He sometimes even got angry and would storm off if I or my mother would push him to tell us about his time in Paris before I had finally accepted him. The only thing he would say is that he made money by playing piano in concert halls. I wish I could say that he gets his skill from me, but I must be honest, he is much better than I at playing not just the piano but various instruments.</p>
<p>“Oh Louis, you would love him. He’s intelligent and reads…like books! Those really big books you read filled with long words I can’t even pronounce. I just wish you could meet him.” Lestat stared out the window with a pensive look.</p>
<p>“Why can’t we? Did…something bad happen to Viktor?” Louis asked gently. Lestat shook his head.</p>
<p>“He isn’t dead, or at least I don’t believe he is. My mother had hidden a letter from my father from me. He was waiting for me in New Orleans. I was furious at my mother and told her to leave my presence. The next night, she was gone…along with my son. The last I heard from him was a letter from him that I received right after we had Claudia. He told me that he was ok and living in a town a little outside Paris. My mother and he went their separate ways after she still wanted to explore Egypt and he longed to be back in France.” Lestat sighed and grew visibly heavier. Louis kissed the top of Lestat’s head.</p>
<p>Claudia didn’t like the end of this story. There was no happy ending and she didn’t like it. She forgot about the fact she was trying to hide and didn’t want her fathers to know she was listening in.</p>
<p>“That’s it?! You didn’t even try to go to Paris to see your son?” Claudia barged into the bedroom. Lestat jumped in Louis’s arms.</p>
<p>“Claudia! What have I told you about sneaking around,” Louis scolded fiercely, “Were you listening the whole time?”</p>
<p>“Yes, but there are bigger problems! Papa, why don’t you go to Paris and try to find your son?”</p>
<p>“Well, I didn’t want to abandon you and Louis. You were just adopted and I couldn’t just pick up and leave.”</p>
<p>“But why don’t we go now? You can see your son. I can meet my brother! You even said yourself that Louis would love to meet Viktor! I am older now and would be perfectly fine traveling.”</p>
<p>“You know, Lestat, she does have a point. Why don’t we go to Paris and try to find your son? I can’t think of any reason not to.” Louis smiled. Lestat had decided, they would all sail to Paris and hopefully find his son once more. Lestat however didn’t consider the danger that might still be lurking in Paris.</p>
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